Man's Best Friend
by That One Eccedentesiast
Summary: On a mission, Kakashi's ninken (or just Pakkun) get hurt. As Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura try to help out, they get a glimpse into Kakashi's close bond with his dog(s). The Goliath Beetle's prize for being my twenty-first reviewer on my fic "Quietly". COMPLETE.


_**Man's Best Friend**_

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_On a mission, Kakashi's ninken (or just Pakkun) get hurt. As Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura try to help out, they get a glimpse into Kakashi's close bond with his dog(s)._

**~xXx~**

Naruto knew it was supposed to be an _easy _mission (not that they ever were), but this was still an unexpected development. Diving away from another kunai, the boy witnessed his teacher fight a pack of clones with only his hands and the dogs he had at his feet. Thinking of the scroll carefully hidden away in Sasuke's pack, he wondered if it was more valuable than they had been informed.

"Shit!" He yelped as a shuriken nailed his sandal to the ground.

His teacher's head swerved; lone eye seeking out Naruto. Blue gaze wide, the youth saw the knife going for his teacher's blindside; "K-!" But he knew it was too late. The boy was too far away and his teacher too distracted. Naruto prepared himself for a scream, shout, grunt-_something_-but instead, all there was pungent silence. Opening an eye, he saw his teacher alone. All the clones had been unmade and now Kakashi was on his knees.

Sweeping down, he took out the tool and ran to his teacher. One of the man's ninken growled at Naruto, causing him to stumble.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" He whispered.

His instructor's body shifted and the blond saw. In his teacher's arms was Pakkun, the tiny dog bled out from a gash in his stomach.

"Naruto we could really use you right now!" Sakura yelled across the path from where she and Sasuke had been forced to fight back-to-back as they deflected the two living the ninja-burglars as best they could.

With one last glance back, the boy nodded. "Right!" He cried; rushing into the fray.

* * *

The two would be robbers hog-tied in the middle of the path, Sakura breathed deeply with satisfaction "There!" She declared. Turning to her teammates, she saw Naruto looking back at their prone teacher and his gaggle of dogs. Reaching out, she asked; "What's up Naruto?"

The boy's shoulder's slumped. "...His dog, Pakkun, I think he's not doing so hot."

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I was over there, he had this big cut to his stomach and-well, Kakashi-sensei didn't look so good either."

The girl wondered how long her teacher had had his summons. A long time, she bet. Resolving to do what she could, she passed Naruto with a brush over his shoulder; "I'm going to see if there isn't anything I can do."

"You don't know any healing jutsu!" The boy yelled after her.

She sent a caustic eye the blond's way. "Is that so?" Sakura sneered. "I've read some books over the years! I think I can be of _some _help!" And with that, the pink-haired girl lifted her chin and went to her teacher's side. Crouching down beside the man, she ignored how his dogs didn't move.

"Is there anything I can do?"

His lone stare never left the struggling animal he held. "You'd think I could recall some of my training right now..." he murmured; "But every time I try and configure the right amount of chakra to use it slips right out of my mind."

Heartbroken to hear her teacher's quiet admittance, Sakura reached around gently putting a hand on his wrist. "I can do it," she said. "Just tell me what jutsu to use."

A quiet breath.

"Okay," he agreed and with more care than she has ever witnessed, her teacher shifted Pakkun into her arms; soothing the quiet whimper he made with a loving rub to his ear. "It's going to be okay Pakkun," he told the dog.

Sakura bit her lip. If she didn't get this right...

"First you need to put your hands to his stomach," Kakashi instructed.

The girl let out a calming breath. Her instructor would help. She wasn't going in blind. Following the man's directive, the pink-haired youth lost herself in the work.

* * *

Waking, Sasuke picked out a mass in his line of vision. Squinting, the boy found it was a pile of dogs. Not just any dogs though, but his teacher's ninken. Bladder itching for release, the dark-haired youth knew he couldn't avoid the animals or his teacher. Tossing back his covers, he waddled past the pile and a little ways into the woods.

Pissing languidly, he could hear the occasional snuffle or grunt float through the air. Sasuke didn't know much about dogs, and definitely not enough to know if they were always so loud when sleeping (or maybe not sleeping); so as he wandered back to camp, he stopped in front of his teacher and his ninken.

A few minutes later, as if he'd known it was Sasuke from the beginning, his teacher's head lifted from the mass of fur.

"Sasuke."

"Kakashi-sensei," he returned in just as bland tones.

There was a whimper. His teacher sighed and ran a hand over one of the dogs; the injured one. A moment later, the man asked; "What are you doing up?"

"Do you always do this when one of them get hurt?"

Sasuke's instructor disappeared from view. "Come here," the man ordered.

Reluctantly, some of the dogs wriggled out a path to his teacher and the youth took it. Standing next to Kakashi's shoulder; he started "Wh-" the man yanked him down by his arm. The boy, overtaken by surprise and the man's strength, fell easily to the ground. The dogs crawled back; fastening him to the grass. Struggling, he scowled. "What's this for?"

A single gray eye focused on him. "You did an excellent job staying focused today."

"It was the mission," Sasuke deflected. "It's what were paid to do-to carry it out."

One hand running over the head of a smaller, but not the smallest, dog's head; his teacher looked away. "Sometimes," he started; "Sometimes you'll find missions difficult to follow through on." His gaze went to the fitful dog sleeping on his chest. "Sometimes when the ones you care for are hurt, you forget the mission."

Blinking, the dark-haired youth frowned. "That's why we have teams, right? If something goes wrong, there are other people to complete it."

In the moonlight, he saw Kakashi-sensei's eye curve. "Correct," he chuckled. "I guess you understand things a lot better than I thought!"

Hesitantly, Sasuke reached out and put a hand on a skinny dog's head. "Do you sleep with your ninken a lot sensei?"

"Sometimes," the man admitted. "Especially in the winter."

The boy couldn't help but crack a grin. "Hn."

Listening to the pack of dogs breath, sniffing and grunting was a lot like a lullaby, Sasuke learned. Not long after the dark-haired youth finished talking with his instructor, he had fallen asleep with his hand curled into the fur of one of the summons. He had never known dogs could be such a comfort. Maybe that's why Kakashi-sensei care so much about them.

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**This is The Golaith Beetle's prize one-shot for being my twenty-first reviewer on _Quietly_, the paraphrased prompt being: "Team 7 getting a glimpse into their teacher's close bond with his ninken".**

**I hope you liked it The Goliath Beetle!**

**Thank you all for reading and pretty please review!**

**P.S. Go check out the poll on my page! I have a super important question I would love to get as much feedback on as possible!**


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